Hot rod hullabaloo

Our fair city is growing, this is good; however Mayor McCheese wants to leave a legacy that screams "LooK at that cool shit I done built".

You see instead on investing in infrastructure the mayor is building a park along the river bank he calls River Landing. He has wasted sooooo much money on stupid things that we the people who invest in the city are stuck paying the bills, and there is no end in sight.

A simple comparison, look at our twin city Regina, the capitol city here in Saskatchewan. (That's Sask achew wan for all you Yankees) NO TAX INCREASE THIS YEAR.

Mayor Potato head wanted a 4.8% increase but managed to get city council and department heads to sharpen the pencils. That is just political banter to say "let's scare the shit out of them by telling people double so when we really get what we want they will think it is a deal".

HOWEVER; this is a tax assessment year (thanks to those NDP bureaucrats who implemented this a few years ago) so 2.8% is really double after they look at the latest selling prices of homes here!!! (now this part is ok but the same house in Calgary would pay taxes of about 2/3 my bill)


Anyway, there is not enough space to list all the stupid things they are spending my money on so here are some of this years examples; $20K on blow up toys for paddling pools. Now I can't say for sure but if there are 10 paddling pools in the city that's $2000 each. That's a lot of water wings and floaty balls....

But really it is nothing compared to the "Light Show" on the Black Bridge, er,, Victoria Bridge,,,uhmm sorry renamed The Traffic Bridge" (What the F%&K???) The bridge cost is close to $400k for the lights, yet they won't PAINT IT, so we got lights on the black tar & rust.

But don't just take my word for it , here are some high lights from our local paper..

Council agrees to phase in tax changes from reassessment

By David Hutton, The StarPhoenixFebruary 18, 2009

City council on Tuesday approved a phase-in of the tax impact of this year's provincial property reassessment.
The City of Saskatoon began mailing its 2009 assessments to property owners Tuesday. This year's assessment is based on property values as of June 30, 2006.
A revaluation of all properties in the province occurs every four years. An increase in value doesn't automatically translate into a tax increase or decrease. Generally, if a property owner's assessment increase exceeds the average increase in that property class, he or she will pay more tax, depending on whether city council changes the mill rate.


Council OKs operating budget The StarPhoenixApril 21, 2009

The City of Saskatoon's 2009 operating budget received city council's final approval on Monday night.
The operating budget, requiring a 2.9 per cent mill rate increase, includes a $3.5-million increase in the Saskatoon Police Service's budget.
The total amount of the operating budget is around $280 million, $26 million more than last year.
‘We could have got to zero but at whose expense?" said Mayor Don Atchison in an interview after the budget was passed. "We could cut the (police budget). But is that what you want or do you want safety and security?"***see below
Many other Saskatchewan cities, including Prince Albert, Moose Jaw and Regina, have managed to hold the line on taxes while increasing service levels because of new revenue-sharing funds from the province's municipal operating grant program.

Now this is what burns me because instead of putting money where it belongs this council wants to rebuild the down town. I say that with the growth of the city will come private investors, and business will do it's own developing. We are giving away prime real estate for low rent offices. Yes I have friends who are operating business in the area because the city is renting space out for cheaper than down town PARKING per month. This idea is nice, but how about putting these businesses in places where bad decisions shut down tax paying centres.
LIKE WHAT YOU SAY??

Well we gave the new BIG BLUE galaxy theatre heavy tax breaks to build and open down town, so then we loose three of the other theatres, who said they could not compete....

We spend how many millions of dollars by building an over pass for the south side WALL MART diverting major amounts of traffic through a residential neighbourhood when original plans had this running down Preston.



No hike for Regina taxpayers
April 04, 2009

Zero per cent is the mill rate increase proposed for the Queen City this year, unlike Saskatoon, Calgary, Edmonton and Red Deer, where increases have all been ...



Education tax reform inequitable
March 27, 2009

... Despite the increased provincial grant to Saskatoon, Mayor Don Atchison is projecting 2009 municipal tax increase of more than twice the inflation rate. ...



City tax hike likely larger than mayor likes
March 18, 2009

SASKATOON — Saskatoon Mayor Don Atchison labelled as “historic” a new municipal funding scheme announced in Wednesday’s budget, but the city estimates ...
Note, every year since his reign of terror our taxes have gone up in "historical amounts".

It seems our safety is already in jeopardy. Maybe the $400K in fancy lights, and $280K in police horse back training (for a stupid idea of mounted patrols) could have been better spent on MORE OFFICERS ON THE STREET.

Nation's most dangerous city?
March 06, 2009

... Mayor Don Atchison faulted the statistics for being out of date and misleading. He said the city's crime statistics are higher because ...

..yea right....

Saskatoon is Canada's most dangerous city, says Maclean's
March 05, 2009 we won 2 years in a row!!

Yep the list keeps growing. I wonder what Jim Pankiw would have done... It is too bad that when we had the biggest turn out of voters it was to send Jim P a message. Too bad we didn't have a real candidate with a vision for growth by influencing corporate investment, and knowing that low property taxes come with lots of commercial growth and industry. This is also followed by good jobs, vast selection of stores from grocery to restaurants.... but I guess we don't want that here...

When you really want to get pissed, do a search on Canada.com (jump to Saskatoon Star paper) and see year of letters to the editors about Mayor McCheese. Who can for get "Canada's Craziest" Remember folks, this is the guy who wanted a DOME OVER DOWN TOWN.

And just who the hell is it who wants to rename every building or centre after Joni Mitchell? (see previous blog entry) I say we call River Landing TWEED Terrace after the Tweed sisters who went on to fame through soft cor porn and rock and roll. They have more of a commitment to this city that Joni does. Last this place is only going to become a hang out for junkies and prostitutes. Take the river boat tour and count the homeless sleeping on the shores.

Letter: Move to the Atch gallery
Mayor Don Atchison seems bound and determined that as much as possible of Saskatoon's culture will be located at River Landing, close to those two "architectural" gems, the Clinkskill apartments and... (168 words)

Letter: A secret betrayal
The hypocrisy and betrayal exhibited by Mayor Don Atchison and the Mendel Art Gallery board is appalling. When the city floated the idea of moving the gallery in October 2005,

Potential city tax hike shrinks to 7.5% after provincial budget
Only one citizen called Mayor Don Atchison's office on Thursday morning to complain about the proposed 12.55 per cent tax hike civic administrators predicted when they released the city's preliminary...

Revenue-sharing boost won't prevent tax hike; City's mayor welcomes municipal funding scheme revealed in provincial budget
Saskatoon Mayor Don Atchison labelled as "historic" a new municipal funding scheme announced in Wednesday's budget, but the city estimates it still faces a possible four per cent tax hike despite

City debt to double; Borrowing for big projects will push city $200M in the red
The City of Saskatoon is more than doubling its long-term debt to more than $89 million and has plans to push its debt-load past $200 million within two years. All that borrowing -- paying the bills...

Utility goes $3.2M over budget; Saskatoon Light & Power dipping into its reserves after overspending on projects
The cost of economic growth is delivering a shock to Saskatoon Light & Power's savings account. The city utility is taking the "very unusual" step of dipping into its reserves for $3.2 million worth.
Craziest Of AllSASKATOON -- The craziest mayor in Canada hangs his jacket and tie in Saskatoon, according to results of a contest run by the CBC-TV program Rick Mercer's Monday Report. (Fort Frances Times Online) See related story in Municipal Alberta.

This guy is out of touch with the back bone of our city, but he did vote himself a nice $40k a year raise a couple of years back.... AT least HE can afford to pay His Taxes...

Labels: crazy, mayor, Saskatoon, taxes